A BBC news anchor of Indian origin has been subjected to a deluge of personal abuse for presenting a documentary about ‘Operation Blue Star’, when the Indian army barged at Amritsar’s Golden Temple in 1984.
Sonia Deol was forced to delete her page on Facebook website amid a barrage of criticism from fellow Sikhs.
During ‘Operation Blue Star’, some 500 Sikh separatists and their controversial religious leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, who were in favour of a independent state (Khalistan) for Sikhs, were holed up in the Golden Temple.
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The assault was carried out at the order of then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on June 4, 1984. During the attack, Indian soldiers stormed inside temple premises killing many separatists,
Now protesters are planning a mass boycott of the licence fee in protest against what they claimed a slur on Bhindranwale, who was killed in the raid with many claiming he was depicted in the film in a similar way to Osama Bin Laden.
Many Sikhs, particularly supporters of Khalistan consider him a saint and are furious that in Deol’s documentary, 1984: A Sikh Story, he was described as a militant.
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Bhindranwale and the armed supporters took refuge in the holy place, fearing arrest amid rising Sikh-Hindu tensions.
Deol, who hosts BBC Breakfast at weekends and News 24 bulletins, deleted her Facebook profile on Wednesday after the row escalated.